I had a nice surprise when I spoke to my youngest sister. Our sister from Tennessee was coming over to do some shopping for her daughter's wedding!   They agreed to come for Sunday dinner, and I used some items that have not been used in a long time!   The glasses were a gift to me when I graduated from high school forty years ago! (I plan to attend that reunion in June) The gold flatware was a gift from my mother several years ago. We had a lovely time together.                                                                       

    We got to discussing our lives, and I mentioned how there were a lot of things that are in storage - but were no longer needed by me. They realized that it included my stash of material - and began to go through it all before I could/would change my mind!  (They would check with me to see if they had gotten anything that I may really want to keep before packing it into a box.) I spent the time scanning pictures of the groom-to-be so a slide show could be made for the reception. We had toasted cheese sandwiches, home canned peaches, and chocolate milk for supper. That was a favorite when we were children at home.

    We met in Belton around 10 AM for breakfast - really good pancakes with lots of choices for syrup. Helen and I had to try our hand at the puzzle that one of Melvene's friends had been working. We got a few together, and Helen was able to complete a large section late that night.

    We were really serious about the dresses and all the effort she was using to model for us! There will not be any of the dresses that did not look well for all to see, but you can believe me - there were some shouts of laughter when she modeled a few of them!  Each of us could take eight items to the dressing room - and we each did - several times!

PS - Pray for Elizabeth - she is sick. Came down to IFM to check for malaria - negative. Must go check for hepatitis tomorrow.

I have had a very busy week, but wanted to let you know that Elizabeth is back in Soliette. Everyone and all the animals were safe! She has been very busy cleaning trash from the school yard and around the area where she lives.
This Thursday, she will have two teachers from Canada come and stay for two weeks! They are coming to teach Bible School! Wonder what they will think when they return to Canada. She wants them to experience the real thing, the way she does, but is nervous about it I feel. Pray for her as they learn to know each other and she interprets for them in Bible School.
I'll update later on the last couple days of my life. It has been a hoot!

Elizabeth called to let us know that the ones "in charge" of her decided to send her down the mountain to IFM. She will be staying there until May 18. She also mentioned that the witch doctor may not be coming!  but the voodoo is still planned for the whole week.
Please continue to pray for the teachers and Christians at Soliette during the next two weeks.

Corrie Ten Boom once was known to say "If a problem is too small to pray about, it is too small to become a burden"
I want to remember that as this Thursday arrives. Elizabeth has let us know that the witch doctor is coming to her area and plans to spend a week before leaving.
Our church is taking the matter to God, asking that He would find a way to keep the witch doctor from arriving. We are also praying for the protection of Elizabeth, fellow Christians, and all the students.
The teachers are planning to spend and hour and a half each day with the students the next two weeks, telling them Bible stories the whole time. We need to remember that the students have only known the way of the witch doctor, and are babes in the knowledge of God.
I will try and remember that it can be a "prayer" for me, and let God take care of the "burden"

My sister called and asked if I would like to ride along and attend the funeral for Lloyd Swartzentruber. It was held at 1 PM on March 30, the same day as Communion at our church. I chose to attend the funeral, Lord willing, there will be more Communions held at church.
It was a very large funeral. We arrived at the church about 12:10 PM and it was 2/3 full already! Our parents were brought to the funeral by Wayne and Dorothy, so we all sat together in the back row. That gave Daddy an end seat in case he needed to go stand for a while. The only sibling that was missing was Helen.
We saw so many friends that we have not seen for so long! Large funerals and weddings often allow one to "catch up" with the rest. The one that surprised me the most was Sollie Beiler from Pantego, NC.
We arrived home safely around 10:30 PM. One of the very few trips that I have not driven at all when not traveling with my husband. It was really nice!

Elizabeth came home over Heidi's wedding to help serve tables at the reception. She was able to come two extra days because the school had Easter break last week! The time flew so fast, and it only seems like a dream that she was even here.
Poor Tom. I believe he has become "shopped out"!  He went with Elizabeth and I for three days straight to do the shopping she needed. This morning when his mother wanted us to go to Wal-Mart, he told her that we were going to Grace's house, not shopping!! I believe she was able to get and take everything she needed. There may be one set of plastic shelves (that she may want later) in the storage room. She had two extra suitcases again this time to give space for it all.
We went to Atlanta Easter afternoon and spent the night with her. The alarm went off much too early! We were at the airport about 4:45 AM, and left her as she went through the security. Merle and I both came back to the cement plant where he had left his truck, and headed off to get our work done for the day.
Elizabeth has been after me to slow down a little on the extra work that I do after leaving Tom. Yesterday a lady was waiting to check in at one of the stores so she could do some work. When I questioned her, she works for the same company that I was in the store for work!  I offered her seven of my stores in the upstate area, and she took me up on it!  I also offered three in Anderson and we made a phone call to transfer those immediately. When we meet this afternoon to transfer paperwork, we will call the office and transfer the seven others. It was such a nice solution to taking Elizabeth's advice and not leave the company in a lurch!
Jacob and Valerie are planning to take her sister another car this weekend for her to buy. The one she is driving is not doing very well. It will be a fast trip to Jacksonville, FL and back!

You guessed right!  Elizabeth has malaria - again. This is the first time for this visit/term, but she has had it plenty before.  The lady she has her "apartment" with gave her instructions to go to IFM and find out why she was sick. The blood work came back positive. She says that she will be over the problems that come with the medicine by the time she comes home for three days in two weeks for Heidi's wedding!

She will be at IFM until Sunday afternoon - probably. This will also give her ankle a chance to heal while she rests with malaria.  She twisted it badly on Tuesday night, it swelled quite a bit. She had gone out to help with an overturned truck, and on the way back, stepped on a wet stone wrong.

When Tom laid down to rest yesterday - he suddenly turned to me and began talking.  I asked him -"Tom, does that pillow make men talk?"  He said that it did, turned over and went right to sleep! We enjoy him so much. We will have him overnight on Saturday again.

Our lives have been very busy since we are "empty nesters" again!  We knew it would be this way.

Merle cut a tree down on Saturday, Feb. 16,  for a church close by. They mentioned that they want to take up an offering for his efforts, we will donate that to Elizabeth and her work at the school in Haiti. We sent information along with them about the school and the work there, when they delivered the last load of wood. Merle really had a full day. He called it a day when that was done. We took Tom with us to town and we ate at Kentucky Fried. The next morning the HBS Chorale sang, and he went along for that and the carry-in lunch.  We took him home before going to the nursing home to sing. It appears that we will be able to keep Tom at least once a month over a Saturday night - the one that Grits and Groceries have a special Saturday evening supper. We take him with us to church and then take him back home. As he gets older, maybe we will venture out on Friday evening and take him places with us, coming back Sunday afternoon.

Elizabeth was surprised with the size of her room. She said that if you take her 8 1/2 size shoe and measure 10 times one way and 12 times the other, then you have the size! She has a 38 inch door - now that should let some air in! We are anxious to hear from her again, maybe Saturday she will come down to IFM for the weekend. We will have an address for her by Sunday - then you can write to her. We are not sure about packages yet.

I tried something different today when Tom took his nap. We laid down together, and when he was asleep, I got up.  After 50 minutes, I went back in and laid down again.  He woke up exactly one hour after he laid down, saw me, and rolled over and went back to sleep!  It looks like this may be a way for him to take a longer nap, something he really needs.

I had set my phone to ring the same on the IFM number as Elizabeth's phone does in the USA. It began ringing, and I KNEW who was calling!

She was headed out to buy a 36 inch door for her apartment and a clothes rack to hang her dresses. That door should let nice evening breezes come in! She has taken Haitian friends along to do her shopping, and is very pleased with the things she was able to get and the prices she paid for them. The only other large item she will be getting yet will be a mattress for her bed.

Elizabeth will be spending the weekend with Haitian friends, and plans are as of now to move up the mountain on Monday. She will be hiring someone to take all her things up - each suitcase is at least 50 lb, and there are 6 of those.  Then she also had the things she just purchased to go up as well.

Please remember her in your prayers. Tuesday will find her up there alone, with Dwight and Jen on the way back to the USA.